Polytechnic School: Please Pass the Stroganoff

The senior Russian Literature class had a Russian tea last week. Students came dressed as characters from Crime and Punishment, and asked one another questions in character. The course is one of a number of electives offered in the 12th grade that satisfies the AP Literature criteria and prepares the students for the AP English Literature exam.
From the course description: Through the literature of the time, students will explore the Russia of the mid-1800s, an era churning with deep philosophic ideologies. Through a reading of Crime and Punishment, students will analyze such concepts as existentialism, positivism, utilitarianism, rational egoism, utopian socialism, and nihilism. Much of class discussion will center on these complex ideas as well as the nature of crime and morality in Russia prior to the Communist Revolution. This course will be a study of place as students will learn about the social and political history of Russia. In addition to Crime and Punishment, students will read novels such as Eugene Onegin, Fathers and Sons, and The Death of Ivan Illyich. We will also read shorter works by Anton Chekov and Nikolai Gogol.